I have befriended the women at a local shop. The store is a colorful explosion, packed to bursting with pieces from local artisans, antique dishware, cards with profanity and dirty humor, political humor, novelty socks, and knick-knacks that you might not know what to do with, but always make you laugh.

The Illinois Conference is preparing to turn the page on nearly three decades in its current home.

When Dr. Ying “Lucy” Zhou attended Hinsdale Adventist Academy’s (HAA) international festival last October, she was impressed by the celebration of diversity on display.

Across Southern Illinois, God is opening new doors for outreach, and the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church is stepping forward in faith to walk through them.

I was listening to a book while I mowed my lawn recently which emphasized the anthropological distinction between spaces and places. Spaces are structured, bounded, measurable, like a city or an empty warehouse; places are spaces with meaning. It's the difference between an empty room in a house and that same room once you've added the art and furniture that turns it into a place that represents you, like that Roman armor in the corner that never fails to provoke a conversat

Motivated by what might have been the first “Lunch and Learn” - when Jesus shared the gospel, bread and fish with five thousand souls, last year the West Central Church Board approved hosting a “Lunch and Learn“ series covering the iconic book “Steps to Christ” by Ellen G. White.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Executive Committee met April 14–15 at denominational headquarters in Takoma Park, Maryland, for its semiannual business session. Known as “Spring Meeting,” the gathering offers a snapshot of the global church’s health, priorities, and forward movement.

Easter Sabbath is almost here. Several pastors have shared how they and their churches plan to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Illinois Conference is preparing to turn the page on nearly three decades in its current home.

The Peoria congregation has come across an interesting way to make cross-cultural communication easier: They set up a screen during worship whereby a speaker will be translated and transcribed in real-time from Spanish to English and English to Spanish.

Imagine a college student sitting at the end of their dorm bed. It’s the end of a brutal week. The days felt like a conveyor belt of essays, endless reading, and assignments forgotten just before the due date. Now it's Friday, and a choice looms: do you attend church tomorrow?​

The Illinois Conference Executive Committee has voted to call a Special Constituency Session for March 29. The session will begin at 10:30 a.m. at a location to be announced. Delegates who served at the 2022 Constituency Session will also serve as delegates for this special session.

The Illinois Conference administration proposed relocating the Conference office to a joint meeting of the Illinois Conference Executive and Association Committees (EACOM) on January 27, 2026, where the measure was overwhelmingly approved.

Hundreds of Illinois Conference members and friends gathered on Zoom for 10 Days of Prayer, an annual initiative that unites the global family of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in focused prayer. Hosted by Matthew Lucio (Communications) and Ruben Bullon (Hispanic Ministries), English- and Spanish-speaking believers met each evening from January 7–17 for worship. Pastors, Conference leaders, and educators offered a short devotional each night before attendees joined small gr

People adopt dogs and cats and sometimes other people. In this case, people adopted a church.

Music and community came together in a powerful way on December 6, 2025 as Hinsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church hosted A Hinsdale Hallelujah, a large-scale sacred concert that served as a festive and meaningful opening to the Christmas season for the Hinsdale community.

This is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of the Child who provided a reset for all things. His life makes it possible for all to live fully. And because He arrived amidst such terrible circumstances, we can be amidst terrible circumstances and still find a way through them. Darkness has served at times as the condition from whence light arrives.

November 14–16 marked a milestone for our conference as we held our very first Public High School Retreat at Camp Akita. Nearly 30 public-school and 8th graders from across our conference came together for three days of worship, friendship, and powerful reminders of how God is moving among our youth. What a blessing it was to see the Holy Spirit working so clearly in their lives.

When you get the Holy Spirit, you get Jesus. Ask, and you shall receive. To get the Holy Spirit, we must ask for it every day, and every day, and every day. That was the emphasis of Pastor Dwight Nelson at the Illinois Conference Prayer Retreat that drew 88 people to Camp Akita on October 3 to 5.

With a radiant smile, Laura Lucio stood on the small stage before a hundred women who had gathered from across Illinois—and even as far as Texas and Tennessee—to worship, connect, and grow together in East Peoria. Appointed as the volunteer Women’s Ministries Coordinator in 2024, one of Laura’s first goals was to plan a statewide retreat. A year later, that dream became reality: The Unseen.